The $33,000 Nissan Leaf comes with a battery pack that costs Nissan just $9,000 to produce, meaning that it costs an unprecedented $375 per kWh, AutoblogGreen reports.

That makes the battery the cheapest yet to produce, as most cost estimates for current automotive lithium-ion batteries are in the $1,000 to $1,200-per-kWh range, the report said. (That's why you tend to hear that such-and-such company will sell their EV "at a loss" in at least the first few years of production.)

The report points out that unlike the liquid-cooled pack found in the Chevy Volt and some other EVs, Nissan is using air cooling for the Leaf; that should be somewhat cheaper, but still not anywhere near a real explanation for the huge cost discrepancy. For now, Nissan is keeping its mouth shut.

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